


The Proposal

by etoilesdeglace



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, The Fitzsimmons Rom-Com Challenge, The Proposal AU, Tumblr: thefitzsimmonsnetwork
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-16
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-08-15 08:44:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8049781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/etoilesdeglace/pseuds/etoilesdeglace
Summary: “Sorry. Simmons… Jemma I hate to ask you to do this but it’s the only shot I’ve got, it’s the only thing I can think of so…” He paused and took a deep breath, his entire body stilling. “Could you, no, will you, marry me?”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Part of TFSN Rom Com Challenge.
> 
> Thanks to grapehyasynth and Hailey for beta-ing at various points.

She had been planning the event for months, a year really - since the celebration at Annie’s 89th had triggered the idea in her mind. Her mother-in-law had always been so kind and Grace wished only to give her a party to remember while she still could. Surrounded by friends and family and all those who loved and cared for her.

That’s why it was so disappointing when she got the call, halfway through tying the ribbons around the mason jar candles.

“Are you sure there’s no way to-”

“Yes I’m sure. I need to get this project done before the deadline on Monday and Fitz-”

“Don't tell me that he’s the reason you're working overtime.”

“He’s not. Well not exactly-”

“As always. Just… don’t forget to call Jemma, Annie would really appreciate it.”

“I promise. Love you.”

“Love you too darling.”

Grace hung up and carefully placed her phone on the kitchen table. Leaning against the wooden surface she buried her face in her hands and could feel the tears starting to form when she heard her husband enter the room.

“Who was that?”

“Jemma. She -”

“Called for once. That’s nice. And now of all times too, when she’ll be here this weekend.”

She paused briefly, trying to work herself up to saying the truth. It had been a few years since her entire family had been together and now the reunion would be further delayed. Attempting to quench the tears that were pooling in her eyes, she responded quickly and without emotion. “She won’t be here.”

She meant to say more but she heard Robert turn on his heels and walk out. She swore she heard him mutter, “Course not,” into his mug on the way.

She rested her head on her arms and let the tears come.

~{}~

“He’s not. Well not exactly-” Fitz entered the lab to find Jemma hunched over her bench massaging her forehead with one hand while the other held her phone to her ear.

“I promise. Love you.”

“Your mum?” Jemma jumped at the sound of his voice, the whirl of the centrifuge to her right filling the room and masking his entrance.

Relaxing against the back of her chair she spun slightly to face him as he made his way over to the fridge. “Yeah. She’s upset that I won’t be able to go to this family thing this weekend, but I promised I’d call so hopefully that helps.”

“Hmm.” He didn’t pry - he never did, in fact he’d only made the comment as a way to bridge the awkward silence that had fallen over the room. The truth was that he didn’t really care, couldn’t spare the brain power to deal with her personal life. But then she kept talking and that’s when he processed what she’d been talking to her mother about.

“My grandma’s birthday. Ninetieth.”

He almost dropped his lunch but managed to safely deposit it in his designated half of the fridge. Jemma valued family above almost everything - or at least he assumed she did… they didn’t really talk about that kind of thing.

(Or anything at all really.

She tended to talk a lot but that didn’t mean that he was always an active participant. In the early days of their partnership he’d struggled to impress the lovely smart biochemist with the English accent but then he’d freaked out over the cat liver she’d left in the fridge and he realized that they were just never going to work. No point in getting attached.

So he lets her talk but he doesn’t always listen and he rarely responds in kind, instead focusing his attention on his own work and letting her commentary in one ear and out the other. In fact, the longest conversation they’d ever had had been a few days earlier when she’d chastised him for being stupid enough to have created a bullet with only enough space for one millimeter of dendrotoxin without running the specs by her first.)

That being said, he had eyes and she had a collection of family pictures on the corkboard above her desk. He’d assumed that they were a significant part of her life to have made it onto the board - the periodic table wasn’t even on the board (although that’s probably because she had it memorized). Plus, the preparations she would have to miss! She excelled at preparation, if the carefully divided fridge space was any indication, and he could only begin to think about the plans and bookings she would have to cancel. Cross-Atlantic flights were not cheap and - was she even flying over seas? Or was her family nearby? He didn’t know and he didn’t care (at least that’s what he told himself).

“Ninety! Simmons!” If he had a grandmother turning ninety, or a grandmother that he knew at least, he would want to be there - not holed up in a lab with a co-worker who was merely an acquaintance, and often not an amicable one. “ What if your grandma has a heart attack? Or a stroke? Or… well, anything, and if she did, you would forever regret not going.”

“Can you please pass me the samples that are in there?” Jemma asked from behind him, so he fetched the carefully labelled tubes from the back of the shelf and took them over to her.

When he didn’t leave after making his delivery and after she had placed the first sample into the centrifuge she let out a sigh and looked up at him. “It’s done, Fitz. I’ve already cancelled the flights and my mother knows. I’ll call to talk to Grammie but my focus is work this weekend. We have a deadline to meet.”

Fitz’s thoughts drifted to the message he’d received from Coulson the week before indicating that the first round of non-lethal weaponry testing was being pushed forward as per Victoria Hand’s directions. Along with the instructions that he and Simmons needed to have a complete set of fully functioning ICERS ready for combat assessment by Monday if he wanted to keep receiving the Research and Development funding from SciOps to fund the DWARFS project. “Alright then.”

“Glad we’re on the same page for once. Now if you’ll excuse me.” She swiveled back around in her chair to return her attention to the test tube that she’d just removed from the centrifuge.

FItz opened his mouth to say more, ask her if she’d at least let him buy her dinner while they slaved over the ICERS into the late hours of the night - purely out of professional courtesy of course - when his phone started to buzz in his pocket.

“Go for Fitz.”

“Fitz. We have a problem. My office in five.” Daisy’s voice was a sliver shy of frantic but she’d hung up before he could get a word in, leaving him leaning against the lab bench with a million negative possibilities running through his brain.

~{}~

“I have good news and bad news.” Not bothering with a hello or greeting Daisy closed the door behind him with a slight bang.

“Good news.” Fitz all but collapsed into one of the arm chairs, already dreading what this conversation would entail. Last time she’d called him up to her office, it was because she’d been eyeing the new intern Trip and wanted him to introduce them. A few times before that been to convey a message from up-top that they weren’t happy with how slow he was producing designs and had assigned him to start a collaboration with Simmons.

“No, that’s not how this works.” Daisy elected not to sit, instead choosing to lean against her desk with her arms crossed.

“Yes it is, Daisy.”

“Well, not this time because this good news has to do with the bad news.”

“Fine go ahead.”

“Remember when you went to that conference in Peru?” Four meetings ago - he can't remember much about that meeting other than a stack of paperwork that Daisy was flipping through as she rattled a bunch of nonsense in his direction. He hadn’t been paying attention, his mind running at full speed trying to figure out the sensory abilities on the DWARFS.

“Yeah. What’s wrong with Peru?” Lovely place, interesting speakers, great hotel - even if he and Simmons had been forced to share a room they managed to secure one with two double beds which resulted in only one awkward encounter (one more than Fitz had been hoping for but not too bad).

“You messed up real bad Fitz that’s what.” As his friend and co-worker, Daisy dropped her head in her hands, a mix of disappointment and frustration in her tone.

“What?”

“You don’t get it. You broke the restrictions on your work visa.” The conversation from that meeting was starting to come back to him, something about staying within the country while his permanent residency was confirmed.

 _Shit_.

“Which means that you no longer have a visa, which means that,” she paused and took a deep breath, “you’re no longer allowed in the United States.”

 _Shit_.

“Okay, well I can work from Glasgow, get some basic equipment set up and Simmons and I can work remotely and…” Daisy shook her side slowly. “What?”

“You’re not allowed to be employed by a US employer, Fitz. Your job is no longer yours this time next week.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah.”

“Well what if we try just explaining the situation, I had to go to Peru, there was no way that Simmons could’ve explained the project properly - she’d barely been on board for a month after all - and we needed to impress the -”

“Fitz it doesn't work that way.”

“And there's nothing you and your techno genius can do?”

“Unfortunately not.”

Slumping back in the arm chair, Fitz closed his eyes and massaged his forehead - still trying to process the enormity of his situation. “Well what’s the good news?”

“I think I’ve found an ingenious way to solve the bad news.” That sentence was more than enough to scare Fitz. Not only did Daisy have an idea - she thought it was brilliant, which means it was almost certainly not something he was going to appreciate (let alone deem both legal and moral).

“Get Married.”

 _Shit_.


	2. Chapter 2

It was fair to say that she was frustrated with Fitz.

They’d been working together for almost six months now and the conversation they’d just had had been the most  _ human _ conversation they’d ever had. She was already more than slightly disappointed that she would be missing Grammie’s birthday and she didn’t need him making her feel worse - especially when it was partly his fault.

The progress on the dendrotoxin was coming along quickly enough… That is up until the point where Fitz designed a bullet casing that was three times too small to deliver the required dose - she’s not Hermione for heaven’s sake, she can’t create instant paralysis with nothing.

At the beginning of their partnership she’d tried to be friendly, impress the brilliant Scotsmen who she swore would complement her intellect. But alas, he hadn’t been so open to the idea seeing as he clearly disliked her, or at least disliked her as a result of the reason for their partnership. He was cold and always made himself scarce when she tried to strike up a conversation. She still knew very little about his life outside of the office despite the fact that he was close friends with their co-worker Daisy from the tech department.

(A fact that she only knew because said friend had barged into the lab one day looking for Fitz and struck up a conversation with Jemma until Fitz arrived and all but shooed her out.)

So she barely paid him any notice as he returned from his meeting instead focusing her attention on the sample she was testing and only raising a finger to indicate that she needed a moment when she heard him clear his throat right next to her.

Finishing up with her slide she swiveled on her lab stool to face her partner and was surprised to see Daisy in the lab as well.

“Daisy, nice to see you.” She smiled at their guest then turned her attention to Fitz, trying to keep smiling and hoping that she didn’t sound fake. “How can I help you?”

He was visibly nervous as he opened and closed his mouth a few times trying to find the words he was looking for, rocking back and forth on his heels and fiddling with his hands. Daisy on the other hand was very calm, with what Jemma thought was a mischievous spark in her eye.

“Fitz?”

“Jemma - I… I have a problem and I wanted to ask a favor of you.”

“How can I help?” Given her mood, if he asked for more than a pen she wasn't sure she’d be able (or willing) to help him out.

“Um well you see remember that conference in Peru?” She nodded tensely. Suffice to say that she did not remember that weekeend with fondness, she would’ve been more than capable of presenting their project on her own but he’d insisted on coming along. “Well, I… um.”

“Fitz was an idiot and broke the restrictions on his work visa.” Daisy stepped in to rid him of his misery and as soon as she broke the news Jemma had a feeling that she knew what was coming - she’d applied for a work visa of her own when she’d first come to the States after all.

“Which means that as of Monday he’s no longer allowed to be in the United States.” For such a bright man he was quite unintelligent sometimes.

“Yeah um that.” Looking sheepish, Fitz ran a hand through his hair while the other rested on his hip.

Jemma almost wanted to say that he got what he deserved, not trusting her to carry that presentation by herself, but then the weight of the situation crashed down on her. What would happen to the ICERS? Or the projects that they had been assigned to work on next? They weren't the most amicable partnership in the building but they were by far the most ingenious and intelligent so they had a queue of high-importance projects coming from the Top Guns. What about her chance to prove her father wrong? Prove that a career in science was a valid career choice.

“Oh my...”

“Yeah.”

“Could you work remotely? The ICERS need your skill and I…” she trailed off as both Fitz and Daisy shook their heads. “Well what do we do?”

“I-”

“I’ve already thought of a solution but it requires you.” Daisy cut him off, her attention focused on Jemma.

“Me?”

“Yes.” She paused and signaled Fitz to continue, but he was too busy staring at the ceiling to notice. “Fitz?”

“Right. Yeah. So Daisy was thinking that, well we were thinking that, really it was all D-”

“Fitz.” Daisy sent Fitz a glare that would rival Maria Hill’s and Fitz met her gaze before turning his attention back to Jemma.

“Sorry. Simmons… Jemma I hate to ask you to do this but it’s the only shot I’ve got, it’s the only thing I can think of so…” He paused and took a deep breath, his entire body stilling. “Could you, no, will you, marry me?”

_ Marry You? _

Jemma almost felt like laughing at the shock of it but she knew that they were being serious so she restrained herself. “Fitz, I…”

She trailed off but Daisy quickly filled the silence.

“It would work. You’re a legal American citizen right, dual citizenship I expect,” Jemma nodded. “So if he marries you then he can remain here on a spousal visa while his own is being re-procesed. Then once the required time is up you two can get a divorce and be done with it.”

“I....”

“Really it's a little bit genius if I do say so myself.” Jemma stared at Daisy, realizing why the girl’d had a spark in her eye when she’d entered the lab.

“So?”

Turning her attention back towards Fitz, who was rocking back and forth trying to appear calm when he was anything but, Jemma’s mind recovered from the shock of his proposal and started to think through the possibility.

They could continue to work on the ICERS and whatever other projects they had in store. She wouldn’t have to be re-assigned with another engineer who would be desperately inept when compared to Fitz and would slow down their progress. And if in doing so she was able to prove to her father that she’d chosen a successful career then that was an added benefit.

Shaking her head at herself and what she was committing too, Jemma took a deep breath and looked directly at Fitz, determined.

“Yes.”

~{}~

The next twenty four hours were a mess.

Daisy had insisted that they go immediately to the immigration office and file for a spousal visa. Upon doing so they were scrutinized heavily from a less than friendly investigator by the name of Mr.Garrett.

Luckily Simmons was overly attentive and answered almost all of the questions that they were asked. He was going to ask her how she knew so much about him but then he realized how few questions he would’ve gotten correct about her so he didn’t pry.

It's also why he panicked slightly when asked if they’d told their parents yet. Jemma was quick to chime in that they hadn’t yet shared the news but Fitz knew that he had to jump-in when Garrett’s eyes narrowed at her answer.

“Actually, we were going to tell them this weekend. At her grandmother’s ninetieth birthday party.”

He couldn’t get a clear read on Jemma’s face at his answer because she recovered quickly, answering the questions about her hometown with ease. Meanwhile, his brain was trying to figure out how they would finish the ICERS in time for Monday’s presentation if they had to leave for…  _ Sitka _ , that’s what Simmons said - Sitka, England… the following morning.

The meeting wrapped up fairly quickly afterwards, but not before scheduling their individual interviews for the following week. Holding the door open for Simmons on the way out, Fitz let out a sigh of relief.

“Well that’s one thing done.”

Shaking her head as she passed him, Simmons didn’t look remotely relieved - probably stressing about something Garrett had said, that if she was just marrying Fitz in order to get him a visa that she would be facing a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in federal prison. For someone who likes following the rules, he could only imagine how that fact was messing with her brain. She turned to face him and said casually, without meeting his gaze. “You better hope we can still book flights tomorrow.”

“Yeah I’ll figure that out, they’re on me.”

“Get us to Heathrow, I’ll take it from there. I’m going back to the lab to try and figure out how to pack up what we need to finish the ICERS. With both of us there it should be do-able..” She trailed off and started to walk back towards SciOps, so lost in thought that he didn’t think she heard him say that he would text her with the flight details.

Later, when he went to text her that he’s found two seats at the back of an early-morning flight he realized that he didn’t have her number - so he emailed her instead, praying that she’d check her work email before bed. Thankfully, she responded within an hour with her cell phone number and that she’d packed everything that they should need from the lab.

A short, fitful night’s sleep later and he was arriving at the gate to find Jemma already there, Starbucks tea in hand and a stack of binders on her lap.

“What are those?”

“These are our profiles.” She patted the binders gently. “I put them together last night after looking over the types of questions that we’ll be asked next week. Our answers need to line up perfectly or we’re busted. Here’s mine.” Handing him a white binder, Simmons flipped open the blue one in her lap and whipped out a pen. “I filled out what I could in yours but there are a few I’m missing. I left them blank and I thought we could spend the flight filling them out and studying.”

When he didn’t respond, instead skimming over the first few pages in her book, she continued. “The family aspect should be easier to remember after this weekend so I suggest we focus on the other parts for now, I expect my family will have similar expectations that of the examiners.”

Fitz was saved from having to respond because their section was called to board. He didn’t escape for long though, as soon as they were settled in their seats (they switched so that he would have the window, apparently Simmons wasn’t the biggest fan of heights) Simmons pulled out the binders again.

“I know you hate talking about yourself but you must so… favourite colour?”

“Blue.”

“Favourite snack?”

“Pretzels.”

So on and so forth, mostly one word answers - What side of the bed do you sleep on? Any tattoos? Scars? Birthmarks? What’s your mother’s birthday? Your father’s?

That’s where he almost drew the line, but then he remembered everything that Simmons was doing for him and he resigned himself to opening up a little. So he didn’t respond and it only took her a moment to realize what he meant and scratch something down on the sheet before moving on - Siblings? Grandparents? Aunts, Uncles, Cousins? When Fitz remained silent she flipped to a whole other section without question.

“So where did we go for our first date?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *whispers* I'm sorry, university has thoroughly kicked me in the butt

Overall, the cross-Atlantic flight wasn’t bad, Fitz taking the window seat helped. It was the commuter plane that was the problem, overly shaky and too confined for her liking, it was one of things she would use as an excuse to avoid coming home. She spent the entirety of the half an hour long flight clutching the armrests while Fitz took a power-nap, a well-deserved one after the work that she’d put him through all morning.

When they finally touched down in Sitka she heard her family before she saw them, even over the loud roar of the engines. They were standing on the side of the tarmac, waving excitedly and calling her name.

Taking a deep breath, she settled herself and made her way towards them, motioning for Fitz to follow.

“Jemma dear how are you?” The small white-haired lady asked as she opened her arms for Jemma.

Accepting the hug, Jemma replied, “I’m good Grammie how are you?”

“Excellent, better now that you’re here.”

She made her way over to her mother, noticing Fitz making his way over to the group.

“Jemma! Glad you could make it.”

She smiled and said truthfully while she hugged her mother. “Me too.”

“So this must be him?” Her grandma asked but hugged Fitz before waiting for Jemma’s answer. Fitz leaned down awkwardly to reciprocate and Jemma wondered for a moment if that’s how he hugged his grandmother.

“Mom, Grammie, this is Fitz.”

“Anne please.” Corrected her grandmother as she released Fitz from her embrace.

Jemma’s mother sent her a confused look then moved to hug Fitz as well. “Call me Grace. Lovely to finally meet you, we’ve heard so much about you.”

“All good I hope.”

Jemma tried not to cringe when her mother doesn’t respond and Fitz shot her a questioning look over her mother’s shoulder, instead only mouthing a  _ Sorry _ . It wasn’t all  _ bad _ per say, but it definitely not all good.

“Come on Jemma, we have so much to catch up about.” Grammie broke the silence that had fallen over the group and all but dragged Jemma towards the car, leaving Fitz and her mother to carry their baggage. Fitz immediately grabbed the case with the ICERS in it and refused her mother’s help – resulting in a five minute delay at the car while he stubbornly lugged the massive case as well as a backpack and a suitcase across the parking lot.

When they finally got the car loaded, Jemma tried to keep up a conversation that included Fitz so that he wouldn’t notice the _SIMMONS_  branding all over Sitka. Unfortunately her plan didn’t work as intended, as they had never really had a _conversation_ before and her family kept butting in with questions about New York, resulting in Fitz staring out of the window for the majority of the drive. Subsequently, Jemma spent the drive watching Fitz instead of her surroundings and didn’t notice until they pulled up at the docks that they’d driven right past the hotel that she’d booked for the weekend.

“Mom?”

“Yes dear.”

“We booked at place at the Triskelion for the weekend could you-“

“Nonsense, you’re family! And family stays with family.” Grammie waved her off, “I called and cancelled the reservation – you’ll be staying with us. No ifs, ands or buts about it.”

Jemma shot her mother a look begging her for help but all she did was shrug. “It’s her birthday Jem, you try talking her out of it.”

Fitz didn’t look comfortable with their new arrangements but Jemma knew that there was no way to convince her grandmother. “I’ll try to talk her out of it.”

He nodded but didn’t respond so she grabbed her bags from the trunk and followed her family towards the docks.

“Wait the water?”

“Yeah... remote area, boat access only.”

“But you know I can’t swim right.” Yes she did, they’d covered the topic on the plane.

“Hence the boat.” Jemma hoped that the tension she was feeling thinking about seeing her family didn’t come across in her tone but by the look on Fitz’s face she feared that it had. “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine and I’ll be right beside you just in case.”

“Right.”

Sending him one last smile over her shoulder, Jemma stepped on board and took a deep breath. Time to take the plunge.

~{}~

Despite the fact that he and Jemma had only been working together for a few months, and only started having non-work-related conversations the day before, Fitz knew that something about her hometown made her uncomfortable. The way she was fidgeting in her seat and wringing her hands together were what gave her away, he had similar nervous habits himself, but his suspicions were confirmed when she asked to be driven to the hotel. It was as if she’d been looking forward to sharing a room and a bed with him.

(They were supposed to be engaged after all, she insisted that a room with two beds would draw too much attention.)

His worries about her nerves were put on the backburner for a moment when he discovered that they were going to have to travel by boat - his early traumatic life experiences involving water were enough to prevent him from learning how to swim at a level more advanced that a doggy paddle. However, they were brought back to the forefront when he sat down next to Jemma on the bench in the boat and could feel her leg vibrating next to his own.

Before he could put much thought into it, he reached out and placed a palm on her knee, stilling her bouncing and grounding her in the present. 

He knew why she was upset, or he at least had a hypothesis (but he’s a genius so most of his hypotheses were proved to be correct). It was hard to miss the  _ SIMMONS _ stores around the town - the post office, the tech shop, the grocery market, the convenience store… but nothing science related. Therefore Fitz could only assume that Jemma’s anxiety was being caused by re-uniting with her family after leaving the family business behind.

Jemms flinched slightly when he touched her but smiled back at him briefly before returning her attention to the water and the landscape around them.

Sitting there with the wind blowing through her hair and the sun reflecting off the water and highlighting her features, Fitz was struck by how beautiful she was. He’d noticed it before of course, he was only human and he had no way to deny that his co-worker was a gorgeous human being. Even with her lab coat and goggles on there had been moments where his breath was taken away, let alone on the odd chances when he got to see her smile.

He hoped that he would get to see her smile more over the course of the weekend, now that she was with her friends and family and allegedly engaged.

In that moment he was mad at himself for screwing it all up, he’d been a jerk when they’d first met and he’d been so bitter about being forced to work with her that he hadn’t been able to see what she was bringing to the table.

He was about to lean over and thank her again for agreeing to his (Daisy’s) plan when the boat rounded the corner and the biggest lot he’d ever seen in England came into view. It stretched across the hill on which it was situated and considering the way they were steering right towards the massive dock, Fitz knew without having to ask that this was Jemma’s home.

“Home sweet home at last.” Anne said as they pulled up - expertly tying up the boat with surprising speed and climbing up onto the dock.

Making to follow, Fitz hesitated at the sound of Jemma’s voice, “Mom? What is this?” She gestured towards the main house, the front room of  which, as Fitz could now see, was filled with people.

“A little welcome home party, it’s been so long since our little Jem was home so we invited a few people over to say hi.”  Anne’s voice was breezy as if it was no big deal but Jemma’s thigh tightened under Fitz’s grip and he knew that he needed to do something.

“Grace?”

“Hm?”

“Would you mind giving us a moment, we’ll bring the bags don’t worry about it.”

Looking at Jemma for confirmation and getting it when she nodded slightly, Grace took off walking Anne towards the house.

“Do you want to talk about it or are we going to just face the fire?”

“Let’s just drop the bags off in our rooms and by then hopefully I’ll be ready to face the fire.”

“Okay.”

“Cool.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Awesome.”

“Yep.”

There was an awkward silence and Fitz quietly removed his palm from her skin and wiped it on his jeans, unsure what to do next. Luckily Jemma broke the silence, “Do you want some help with the bags this time?”

He almost said no but then he remembered the weight of the ICER kit and agreed to let her help him.

They’d moved all the bags up the hill and into the house when Grace re-appeared to show them to their rooms. Arriving at the house’s guest bedroom Fitz was shocked to find a balcony with a lake-view and queen size bed and a private shower. Not to mention the original art pieces hung on the walls, the separate seating area and the chandelier in the middle of the room.

The biggest surprise however came when Grace placed Jemma’s duffel bag next to the dresser.

“Well this is nice but where is Jemma’s room?” Fitz inquired as Jemma made for the door, not noticing where her bag had been placed, only to be stopped by Anne.

“Oh don’t be silly.” Anne took her granddaughter by the shoulders and walked her over to where Fitz was standing.

“We’re all adults here, we all know that you too sleep in the same bed and seeing as Jemma’s is a twin you two will be here for the weekend.” Grace said as she joined Anne, almost challenging them to protest.

Surprisingly it was Jemma that reacted first (and Fitz was glad because his mind had been pre-occupied thinking about sharing a bed with Jemma). She leaned against his side and wrapped her arm around his waist. “Hmmm. that should work right?”

“Um, Yep.” He tried to not look awkward as he placed his arm around her shoulders and based off of the look on Anne’s face he assumed he’d succeeded because she broke out in a smile and turned to grab something off of the coffee table.

“Here take this to sleep under,” she passed to Jemma and leaned in close enough so that Grace wouldn’t be able to hear, “we call it the baby-maker for it’s  _ special _ powers.”

“Oh.”

Anne smiled so brightly that Fitz would’ve thought it was little-old-lady-cute if she was excited about anything else. As it was, Jemma held the blanket far away from her body and Fitz wracked his brain for something to say to breach the silence that had fallen.

‘What time should we head downstairs them?” He asked Grace.

“Take your time, they’ll be here all night so no rush. Relax and feel at home. We’ll leave you two be.” With one last smile she led Anne out of the room and closed the door.

The second the latch clicked Jemma threw the knit blanket as far away as she could, where it landed on the floor in a heap of yarn.

“We’re never touching-”

“Agreed.”


End file.
